Meriwether lewis childhood biography
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Meriwether Lewis
American explorer and Governor (1774–1809)
Meriwether Lewis | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Portrait by Charles Wilson Peale, c. 1807 | |||
| In office March 3, 1807 – October 11, 1809 | |||
| Appointed by | Thomas Jefferson | ||
| Preceded by | James Wilkinson | ||
| Succeeded by | Benjamin Howard | ||
| In office 1803–1806 | |||
| President | Thomas Jefferson | ||
| Preceded by | Corps commissioned | ||
| Succeeded by | Corps disbanded | ||
| In office 1801–1803 | |||
| President | Thomas Jefferson | ||
| Preceded by | William Smith Shaw | ||
| Succeeded by | Lewis Harvie | ||
| Born | (1774-08-18)August 18, 1774 Locust Hill Plantation, Albemarle County, Colony of Virginia(now Ivy, Virginia) | ||
| Died | October 11, 1809(1809-10-11) (aged 35) Hickman County, Tennessee, U.S. (now near Hohenwald, Tennessee) | ||
| Cause of death | Gunshot wounds | ||
| Occupation | Explorer, soldier, politician | ||
| Signature | |||
| Branch/service | Infantry | ||
| Years of service | 1795–1807 | ||
| Rank | Captain | ||
| Unit | Legion of the United States • Diplomat, explorer, scientist, governor, soldier, Virginia gentleman, student, secretary to the president: during his 36 years, Meriwether Lewis bore each of these titles. Born into a prominent Virginia family, Lewis faced the world with opportunity and advantage. By the time of his death in late 1809, he struggled with “melancholy,” financial troubles and alcohol. Complex and often contradictory, the incarnations of Meriwether Lewis provide insight into the man behind the titles. Virginia gentleman: Born in 1774, in Albemarle County, Virginia, Meriwether Lewis was the first child of Lucy Meriwether and William Lewis. After William’s death in 1781, Lucy remarried and moved the family to Georgia. As a young teenager, Lewis returned by himself to Virginia to manage his family’s estate. Upon the death of his stepfather, Lewis, not yet out of his teens, became the head of a household that included his mother and four siblings. Soldier: Enlisting in 1794, Meriwether Lewis served in Ken •
Thomas Jefferson had a firsthand view of Meriwether Lewis's toughness when Lewis was just a child. In a brief biography of Lewis written after Lewis' death, Jefferson told of Lewis' hunting in his barefeet with the winter snow still on the ground. It's little wonder then that Jefferson, a neighbor of Lewis' family, turned to Lewis for the great expedition west. The mental and physical endurance that Jefferson had seen up close in Lewis would be put to the test of his lifetime as he explored the uncharted west in search of the Northwest Passage. The Early Days | ||